News : Terrorism

Why was Iran plotting terrorist attack in Europe?

INU - It was revealed earlier this month that a terrorist plot was foiled in Europe. Security forces in Belgium, France, and Germany worked together to ensure that the terrorists were not able to carry out the attack.

Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian that was once one of the highest officials in the embassy in Vienna, was arrested for supplying a Belgium-based Iranian couple with the material needed to carry out an attack.

Iran has a history of carrying out terrorist attacks and political assassinations in Europe. For example, several of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agents assassinated Iran’s first Ambassador (since the 1979 Islamic Revolution) to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. The MOIS agents shot Kazem Rajavi dead as he was on his way home.

In the 1992 Mykonos restaurant assassination in Berlin, Sadegh Sharafkandi, a Kurdish political activist and the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI), two colleagues and a translator were killed. This attack received so much public backlash that the regime put a temporary stop to its assassinations in Europe, but it did not last. So why was Iran planning on carrying out another terrorist attack in Europe?

The attack, if it had gone as planned, would have occurred in Villepinte on Saturday 30th June. This is where the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) – the main opposition to the Iranian regime - was holding its annual “Free Iran” rally. Tens of thousands of Iranians from around the world and hundreds of officials, former officials, parliamentarians, human rights activists, dignitaries and so on, are invited to the event.

The Iranian regime is extremely threatened by the opposition because of its wide-reaching support and it's core values that promote freedom, human rights, peace, and equality. Everything that goes against the values of the regime.

Speakers at the Free Iran rally spoke about how regime change is within reach and press from around the world commended the NCRI on organising such a successful event that showcased the alternative vision for Iran.

The widespread support for the opposition was also highlighted at the event and Iranians inside the country were brave enough to voice their support and reassure the NCRI that people there are doing all they can to bring change.

A regime official recently said that the internal disputes that were dividing the regime are no longer a problem because a much bigger threat exists – the determination of the people to overthrow the regime.

The planned attack in France serves as a warning to the international community that the Iranian regime is capable of anything. Nowhere is safe and higher vigilance is needed, especially at Iranian embassies where diplomats traditionally plan the attacks.

The Iranian regime is desperate and who knows how it will react in the fight for its survival. The appeasers of the Iranian regime that want to maintain trade ties with Iran may be able to ignore the terrorist attacks that it is responsible for across the region, but will they be able to ignore it when it happens on their own doorstep?